What I Can’t See (10/16/2023)

Yesterday, as I went about my day, I encountered so many weighed down by invisible burdens of illness, loss of loved ones, worry about loved ones. I know because I speak to them, and they have shared their burdens. But I realize that not everyone knows, not everyone they encounter is aware of what these brave individuals are carrying about with them every day.

This morning as I write, I am thinking about these individuals but also about those of you who read the blog. I know that many of you are also carrying invisible burdens of concern, grief, and illness. I pray for you this day that you might feel the warmth of the LORD’s love for you embracing you and that you might know that others who are journeying with you are here to support you.

This morning, I remember all over again why I started this blog and what has kept me going every day. This journey is blessed. This journey is necessary. And this journey is anything but easy. We need awareness of our LORD’s presence, and we need companions upon whom we can lean once in a while. And we need to be those companions to others, even on days when we ourselves are burdened.

I am blessed to have had so very many models along the way who have shown me the beauty of companions on the journey, people who have suffered greatly but yet still laughed and loved out loud daily. And so, this day, I ask that all of us commit to seeing the other, to praying for the other, and to accompanying the other. No one has it easy; it’s just that some carry their cross more gracefully.

Today, as we pick up our own crosses, set our eyes on our loving Savior, and commit to following in His footsteps, let us commit to being as present to those whom we encounter as He showed us we should and could be. It is one of the mysteries of the journey; sharing another’s burden somehow makes ours lighter.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.